A light flurry was covering the ground under a blanket of slush as Marshal Artus Alkaev and a small entourage drove up to the edge of a small cliff overlooking the Wall in staff cars. The Marshal reflected that the wall might be too grandiose a name for what was really just a double line of 3-meter high fence and some guard posts straddling the border, but a real wall would have been a pointless expenditure in the era of air power. Even the fence was more for show, and a cheap one at that. It made for an allegory of the Kantarian military, Artus suspected that the entire thing probably couldn't stand up to a single Imperial division in open combat.

However, this wouldn't be open combat, and the Marshal hoped the Baitish wouldn't even fight in the first place. Despite the referendum, it was no secret that the Imperial Government had little interest in Araxen, and it was only thinly veiled that they had designs on the Rynn and Vyrillians again. Artus hoped that this would create a perfect storm of sorts for Kantaria, and allow a peaceful transition of Araxen. Despite what the Araxenites thought, they were Kantarian and belonged in the People's Republic.

Within the hour, several teams from Special Operations and the People's Intelligence Bureau would be crossing the border to carry out a series of strikes across the Araxen region. Their targets were all relatively minor, a police station here, a guard post there; they weren't designed to cause a major shake-up. Instead, they were testing the responsiveness of both the local Baitish forces and the Imperial Government. As much as the Kantarians might hope for this to be a painless affair, hopes were hardly something to base an invasion on.

As all loyal citizens of the Empire are aware, the People's Republic of Kantaria has decried the results of the recent referendum in the Araxen Province as illegitimate. But instead of providing proof they have sent troops! Imperial Intelligence and the Ministry of Public Safety have linked the recent spat of bombings in the province to soldiers in the employ of the Kantarian Government.

These are acts of war, and we will not stand for these transgressions upon on our loyal citizens or the Empire's sovereignty. As such, elements of the Imperial Navy will establish a blockade around New Aurora and No-Fly Zone over the whole of Kantaria. The Kantarian Government must learn the Empire is not something to be toyed with.

For His Imperial Majesty,Nikkole Aldena, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Comrades! Despite the baseless accusations and aggressions of the Imperialists today is a happy day! Today, we declare a formal Union with our long time friends and close allies, the Dominion of Blackacre.Together, we will fight the Imperialist Aggressors in a Great Patriotic War for the Fatherland.

As its first act, the Socialist Union of Northern Mauropa formally declares war on the Empire of Baition for its illegal actions on the former People's Republic of Kantaria and its oppression of the hapless people of Araxen.